"Concerning the illegitimate "Shops", can the tracks scramble the signal to stop the pirating of the signal?"

Kenneth, The signals are likely already srambled/crypted.Hardly anything is broadcast on satellite dishes these days in either C or KU band that is not crypted. Windsor Raceway was the longest hold out for encryption and recently scrambled their free C-band broadcasts.

With the encryption techniques and devices in mind?All it takes is for somebody who has a legitimate account and password to provide the same to the pirates.

Some 25-years ago, most everything on C-band satellite dishes was broadcast in CLEAR.HBO, ESPN and all the others.Then the encryptions began.In the beginning of encryptions the a new appoxiamtely 20-digit code was generated on the first of the month and used for the entire month. The hackers/pirates would purcahse full accounts and then sell of subscriptions to their passwords. Eventually many were caught and prosecuted by the FCC. Today the encryptions are changes many times in a single day.

The big thing today is hacked-microchips for these 18-24 inch KU band dished (Dish and Direct).

Most of the satellite hackers (like off-shore books) are located in the Carribean where those goverments have different rules than the FCC.

I have an account with Phone Bet, which I believe is legitmate. This is operated by Philadelphia Park.

It's my belief that PhoneBet runs the betting through the tracks.

Concerning the illegitimate "Shops", can the tracks scramble the signal to stop the pirating of the signal??

I need some computer savvy person here.

Kenneth J. Chadwick

How's Balmoral looking tonight?

It really depends how you define "signal." In simulcast lingo, the "signal" is the whole product. However, it could also mean just the video. What are we talking about here?

In reality, there's no reason to pirate the actual video. It's all freely available online, or for only $99 a month through RTN. There's just no reason to invest the time messing with it.

As far as your internet/phone bets, they are pretty much made in a conventional fashion -- right through the tote machine. In fact, if you call on the phone, most places actually print tickets. On the internet, the information will be encrypted in a conventional manner (httpS), and then downloaded into the tote.

i believe all offshore places book the bets on horses... xpressbet, phonebet,casninos in vegas, etc all go right into the mutual pool at the track.. offshore places dont show the video anyway so what good would scrambling the feed do.. they just book your bets anyone can do that..

" It's all freely available online, or for only $99 a month through RTN"

Edward, The quality difference between what is broadcast on TRN (or any of the small KU dishes) and the Big Dishes are day and night.

With a big dish you could project the video onto a movie srceen and there would be very little distortion or degradation. It all has to do with the square inches or feet of the dish size (as well as the equipment you are using).